Drain cover flagged at airport

Did you get to keep it?

Home Depot is blocked to other than US ip addresses. A good reason to carry a US phone.

I have carried a pretty generic drain cover in a small pouch with the clothes line, a variety of hooks, spot remover, and soap with never a question. Wonder what tripped it for you.

I did get to keep it. Sorry you can’t access the link Mr. E. It is just a flat circular 5 in drain cover. I had it in my one of my hanging cosmetic kit compartments both going and returning. I have no idea why it was researched in one airport and not the other, but the agent showed me on his computer screen the cover the machine picked up.

I always take one of those stopper covers when I travel and never had any problems.

I’m wondering if the size was the issue. I think if I take another, I will try to find one that isn’t as large in diameter- maybe 3 inches instead of 5.

You never know what is going to trigger airport security.

I once had an airport security person freak out over a 15ml bottle of hand sanitizer. I had purchased it in Oslo so the label was in Norwegian. (This was at the airport in Guernsey.) She had to take it to the back to a supervisor could okay it. He came out to let me know it was okay. For those who don't do metric, 15 ml is half an ounce.

A few weeks ago, my personal item was flagged for something. They never told me what and was searched completely.

Personally, I think the machines sometimes randomly selects bags for inspection.

Coming home from Amsterdam a month ago my carryon got pulled and was at least 5th in the line of bags that needed approval. Mine was 3rd in line when they spotted what they thought was a knife in a suitcase way behind mine. That one took priority, and they took everything out of it and placed the contents in an empty bin. A nail file was the culprit. When they finally got to me, the agent wasn't able to find anything in my suitcase that looked suspicious. He finally decided to swab the outside of a zip-lock baggie and analysis it (it was fine). The person behind me they let through without even looking in her bag. I was glad we had gotten to the airport early.

I had the dreaded SSSS on my boarding pass when leaving Milan several years ago. Several of us were guided down a dead-end hallway where everything was removed from our luggage and searched. As I tried to repack everything, I had anxiety that I was going to miss the plane.

I got flagged for “the wand” going through security a week ago - and it ended up being a wadded up Kleenex in my pocket. I blew my nose in line…..

Years ago, I had a hard cake-like sweet thing about 8 inches round and sealed, that I had bought in Turkey.
Changing planes in Germany , I forget where, I’ve never seen an official be so serious and glaring as I did there.
He was quite young and slowly carried the cake in both hands outstretched in front of him off to be X-rayed.
I guess it showed up as possibly explosive.
I got it back after quite a while, but it wasn’t even very tasty when I opened it at home.

I agree,I think it’s all random, though again, something round just like a drain cover!

I have nearly the same 5" drain stopper. I've never been stopped for it, but now that I think about it, it often goes in my checked bag.

I think I've only used it in Istanbul, where the sink didn't close. Might be time to retire it just based on its likelihood of use, and a plastic baggie can pinch hit.

I'm so determined to decrease the weight of my "just in case" items...you've talked me into leaving it at home!

By the way, I stopped taking a sink stopper on my travels and replaced it with a Sea to Summit Dry Sack.

https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Summit-Ultra-Sil-Ultralight-Waterproof/dp/B0BXDSCQV6

I call it my "Portable Washing Machine." It's cleaner than doing laundry in the sink and weighs less than the sink stopper.

My last one finally gave up after five years.

Interesting. Was it perhaps made of silicone? My carry on got flagged for additional screening at LHR too. They seemed to zero in on a new silicone tube style container. 2 ounce size that I had moisturizer in. Explosive residue test cleared me to go on my way.

For those thinking of leaving the sink stopper at home:

I’ve never brought a sink stopper. There’s only been a few sinks that I couldn’t get the plug to close or that were completely missing the plug. For those, I just get my clothing item wet under the faucet, put the detergent or shampoo in one hand and rub it into the clothes with both hands for awhile. Then I use one hand to cover the drain while running water over the item. This calls for fast-moving, so the water stays in the sink while the clothing piece is getting swished in the water. Then do another decent rinse and call it good, Usually I wash a couple items together in the sink, but if there’s no drain plug, I do them one at a time.

Sometimes something gets flagged because of the density of the material or simply because they can’t figure out what it is. I recall getting pulled aside for a couple of jars of spices from the Milwaukee Spice Shop on a domestic flight. All proceeded as normal once they swabbed the outsides.

Two items that I routinely get flagged for. So since I know what they are i put them in an outer section of my carry on.
Even though it's not allowed to touch the bag while the agent is examining it, they appreciate it when I tell them where the items are.
One is a small transparent bag with fingernail clippers, tweezers and scissors which are actually nose scissors. All are allowed once the agent sees them. Second is some wonderful Kiehl's bar soap which has some salt for exfoliation.

I had one similar to yours for years, Mustlovedogs, but finally got a new lighter-weight one a few years ago and really like it. It's not made of "corrosion-resistant rubber," but rather silicone. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CWHT43B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Interesting all the replies and comments. I don’t travel as much as most of you and all the screening stories are very helpful to read about. Kind of relieves my mind a bit that it wasn’t my inexperience nor lack of knowledge about my packing this item that was the main problem. Moving forward though, I may just do the “Jean method” :) and wash, rinse and go without a plug. I won’t be traveling for more than around a week anyway, so there’s not as much a need as for longer trips. Thanks for the replies!

Yes to what Laura said. If they can't see through it, they have to check it. It happened to me at the Milwaukee airport with a 2pound wheel of cheese, bought at the airport gift shop. The screeners said they see them all the time (naturally) and know what it is, but they have to check because it shows up as a solid block on the x-ray. Same with containers of powder (cans or plastic bottles) that could be liquid.

I used to carry a large silicone drain stopper when traveling, but I continue to try every way possible to lighten the weight of my carry-on (the only bag I travel with). Therefore, I have switched to taking a 2 gallon zip lock bag (weighs almost nothing and packs to almost nothing), in which to wash my clothes in hotels if the drain stopper there doesn't work. So easy! Just open the bag in the hotel bathroom sink, and wash away with water and soap!

Bar soap seems to always cause them concern. I either check it or keep it in a separate bag now because I know it'll get flagged.

On a recent trip I ran into a hotel sink that didn't have a plug. I used the plastic film wrapper from one the glasses.

Placed it over the drain, started the water and held it in place until the sink filled enough that the water weight held it in place. Then did the washing. It held well enough to get the clothes done.

Occurs to me that one could bring along some clingy plastic wrap ( e.g. Saran Wrap) to do the same with better results than re-purposed glass wrapper. Very little weight or space and unlikely to set off airport alarms.

As someone who’s gotten creative with sink stoppers often. Here’s a couple other suggestions.

If you have an ice bucket in your room that has one of those baggie liners those work great. You can stuff it down in the drain and once the water gets going it’ll stay put. But I don’t see those as often in European hotels

Laundry bags, are often plastic and they’re big so you can kind of line whatever you’re trying to plug up with them and then shove part of it down in the hole - a little water will usually seep around, but it gives you enough to do laundry or anything you might need to do

Another trick is to weight down your piece of plastic. So when you take your piece of plastic off that glass Put the glass on top of the piece of plastic. I generally find the other things work better than the glass so I will look around for something that won’t be damaged by getting wet that could be put on top of the plastic that’s a little flatter. The top to the ice bucket works well in American hotels Or you can anchor the plastic in place with a wet sock and wash that last.

And just a warning, candles will trigger a search quite often. If I’m bringing back a candle from a trip that I bought or have gotten as a gift I always now pack it on the very top of my carry-on because it’s going to be inspected and it’s just easier if they can find it right away. according to the TSA agents I’ve talked to it is the density, they can’t really see what’s there so they have to look. Now there was one airport, Orlando, where they just knew it was a bomb, They told me I was not free to leave the area and they called the specialist over who looked at my candle and looked at the TSA agent, rolled his eyes, and put my candle back in the suitcase.

One trip we discovered Costco muffins have a density that mimics something dangerous.

Yes, we got to eat them on the plane, but have not taken them as part of our lunch since.

Another item that will sometimes raise a red flag is hand cream or skin lotion. Some of them have an ingredient (glycerin) that is used in explosives. Having it on your hands, or having it transfer to the handles of your bags will set off some alarms.

SJ--I brought a cake home from Iceland last month, and nobody batted an eye over it. My family was quite impressed, lol!

When we were in Norway this summer, we visited the Canning Museum. The tins of sardines are now pull tabs, but they used to use a pin to roll up the lid. They had those pins for sale and I bought one (family joke) and let me tell you security did not like that! The agent at Oslo insisted I had scissors. I let them dig and they kept asking me where the scissors were. I told them I didn't have any. Yes, it was the pin, and they sheepishly put it back in my toiletry bag and gave everything back to me.

I was once questioned about a plastic tube that M&Ms came in that I repurposed to hold a stack of quarters and pennies. You know...so I would be ready to add to my pressed penny collection. I thought I was a genius, but the TSA agent told me not to carry coins like that again.